


That Meddling Ship

by lovestimelords



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Drama, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-16
Updated: 2015-09-16
Packaged: 2018-04-21 03:22:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4813064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovestimelords/pseuds/lovestimelords
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rose isn't happy with the Doctor's attempt to leave her with her family after Journey's End and refuses to stay.</p>
            </blockquote>





	That Meddling Ship

The glow of the funeral pyre reflected in their eyes.

“You tried to leave me in the other dimension,” her voice was raw with emotion.

“Are we really going to have this out now? We’re paying our respects.”

She hugged herself tight and shivered despite the air not being chilly. “I need to,” she said, not quite meeting his eyes.

“You were going to leave me in Bad Wolf Bay,” she accused.

He did not deny it. “Yes.”

“The time I spent with my mum, Pete, and Tony, it was good; I won’t argue that. My dad, a little brother, a family just like I always wanted. But it was an illusion. I’m not meant for the ‘normal life.’” She looked up at the night sky. “Traveling. Saving planets. Running. That’s what I’m meant for.

“So I said my goodbyes. Mum and Tony will have a harder time than Pete, but they have each other. I’ll miss ‘em, but I have you because I refused to be left behind.”

He smiled and rubbed his hands up and down her arms. “Right you are.”

She shook him off and he grimaced. Clearly this was not over yet.

“Having to leave Donna without her memories was almost more than I could stand. She grew so much with you, gained so much confidence, learned to love herself, and she won’t remember that. I cried again. I didn’t know I could take any more pain.”

By now, the Doctor knew where this was going and he braced himself for her recriminations. It was several minutes before she spoke, though.

She struggled to speak through fresh tears, “You wanted to leave him with me. Your clone. A consolation prize.”

He scratched the back of his neck, “Not really a clone, you know. It’s kind of,” he trailed off. The look she had shot him ended what would have been a babbling monologue. “Rose, I didn’t know,” he said earnestly.

“Yeah, you’ve said. But right now I’m not so sure of that,” she sniffled and her eyes were drawn to the pyre that they had made for the half-time lord, half-human.

“You have to believe me; I would never have knowingly done that to you. I had no idea this would happen.”

She whirled on him, “You always think you know what’s best for everyone,” she shouted. “You stand there on your pedestal and make decisions for people without taking their feelings into consideration.” Rose rubbed her temples.

The Doctor reached out for her. “Rose,” he started, “I’m s-”

She pulled away. “Please. I can’t take it anymore. The tears, the goodbyes, the apologies. One tragedy after another. Right now, I’m not even sure I made the right decision. You can’t even tell me that you love me, and I left it all for you.” She choked back a sob.

The Doctor’s face fell, and for once he was at a loss for words.

She tore her gaze from him and nodded towards the TARDIS. “I need to be alone. I guess I have some tears left after all,” she laughed bitterly. 

He wandered in the TARDIS for a few hours, giving up when she kept putting him back in the console room. His own bloody ship was siding with Rose and would not let him find her until she was ready to be found. He paced around the console room trying to come up with the words to convince her to forgive him. He yawned and suddenly felt very tired and figured it was a good time to finally have some sleep. When he exited the console room, he saw that the TARDIS believed so too, for she put his bedroom right off the hallway.

“I’ll bet it’s you making me tired too old girl.” A wave of calm washed over him. “Yep,” he said out loud, “and people say I’m ma-ma-” he was interrupted by a jaw-cracking yawn. “Manipulative,” he finished.

He’d scarcely taken his shoes off before muttering “to Hell with it,” and flopped down in his bed on top of the covers. With the TARDIS’ influence, he was asleep within a few breaths.

He was dreaming of adventures with Rose, running away from some danger or another, holding hands, laughing, when he was aware of himself waking up. He groaned in protest, shifting under the covers, and was awakened instantly when he felt arms tighten around him. Hearts beating furiously, he kept his eyes closed, afraid that he was still dreaming. Assessing his brain and other senses, he determined that he was most likely awake, there was a weight over the left side of his body that felt and smelled like Rose, he was under covers even though he hadn’t bothered with them before lying down, and the TARDIS was sending out feelings of amusement at him.

His bloody meddling ship.

He opened his eyes and his respiratory bypass had to take over. His view was obscured by yellow hair. For several moments, he just watched in disbelief. Panic tried to overtake him at the thought of finally letting someone be that close. She would not live forever, and he would lose her in a relative blink of an eye.

But, he reasoned, he had lost her before and had tried to lose her again. All supposedly to protect her - and if he were being honest, it had really been about protecting himself. She had found her way back to him. The telepathic bond that he would be missing because of her humanity would cause a deep, longing ache. This would be favorable to no Rose at all, he decided.

He brought his free hand up to stroke her hair. She grumbled sleepily and rubbed her face on his chest.

“Rose,” he said gently.

“Mmm?” She was still mostly asleep.

The Doctor chuckled and moved to kiss the top of her head. The movement woke Rose and she tensed, realizing where she was and what was going on.

“Rose?”

“Yeah?”

“Look at me.”

She shifted in the bed and looked him in the eyes.

“Rose.” He took a deep breath, “I love you.”

“I love you,” she replied smiling.

“Where to next?”

“It doesn’t matter so long as I’m with you,” she said.

He grinned at her, “The Doctor, in the TARDIS, with Rose Tyler. Just as it should be.”


End file.
